- reduced size of install- adjusted the way achievements are calculated so if anyone "missed" an achievement due to a bug, it can now be completed (e.g. you completed "10 Geonoid Kills" but not "1 Geonoid Kills")- adjusted jump gate glow effect- fixed a couple of achievements that displayed the "Fix-Me" texture

The game is currently ready to release except for a pricing bug in the store that we inadvertenly stumbled upon. Awaiting Valve to address the issue then the game will be live, finally. ;)

- upgraded Steam installer to address XNA not auto-installing on some clients, you may see a "1st time setup" message even if game is already installed- upgraded Jump Gate graphics- background star fields more dense- fixed bug with a Megalith Scan mission- 2 new zone intro music tracks- 2 new ambient background music tracks- fixed some typos- fixed some UI text not aligning correctly at certain screen resolutions- fixed Geonoid Kill achievements requiring wrong number of kills

Also, introducing the GAR Bug Bounty™:

- if you find a new verified bug in the game, you get 2 Steam Product Codes to sell, trade, give away, or whatever- report bugs in the Steam forum or by emailing gar@eecs.ucf.edu- first to report the bug gets the bounty

Our release candidate patch is scheduled to go live on April 23rd and will contain the following updates:

- fixed squadron member levels not updating in UI portraits- squadron member portraits indicate if member is in another star system- station shield effects show up on UI portraits- some minor chase camera adjustments- FPS counter moved so the radar and scan window don't cover it- pressing enter key in the Options Menu while changing monitor resolution no longer initiates chat during multiplayer- vortex damage radius larger- opening context menus no longer hides system radar or scan window- pirate and xindo stations have more defenses- stations have more health- slightly reduced nebula gas cloud brightness

- fixed squadron invite issues in new UI- moved game graphics and audio settings file off steam cloud because it caused problems for players who switch PCs often- player status bars (shield, armor, hull, XP) broken into 10 ticks for better visibility- 3D unit portraits are back on the UI- new ship scanner functionality to get detailed information on the selected object (default is X key)- new station shield graphics- colliding with the shield of a hostile station causes massive damage- new missions- fixed typos- added some missing tooltips- buy ships and install mods screens now display player credits- references to ship weapon array more consistent (no more 'weapon 0' on UI)- some new sound effects and zone intro music- fixed Nebula Wisp spawning areas to make it easier to complete the related missions- target reticle now shows correctly when Scan Screen or Local System Radar is up